But based on gender difficulties in the Germanic words, OED casts doubt on this whole derivation and says the English word may be a borrowing of Latin spica (see spike (n.2)), from the same root. Slang meaning "needle" is from 1923. Meaning "pointed stud in athletic shoes" is from 1832. Electrical sense of "pulse of short duration" is from 1935.

1620s, "to fasten with spikes," see spike (n.1). Meaning "To rise in a spike" is from 1958. Military sense (1680s) means "to disable guns by driving a big nail into the touch-hole." Figurative use of this sense is from 1823. Meaning "to lace (a drink) with liquor" is from 1889. Journalism sense of "to kill a story before publication" (1908) is from the metal spindle in which old-time editors filed hard copy of stories after they were set in type, or especially when rejected for publication.

(spīk) An elongated indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are attached directly to a common stem, rather than borne on individual stalks arising from the stem. The gladiolus produces spikes. The distinctive spikes of grasses such as wheat or barley are known as spikelets. See illustration at inflorescence.

spike

To strengthen a drink by adding alcohol or liquor: He spiked his coffee with brandy(1889+)

To riseto a high level, esp rapidly: He also spikes into the upper registers/ push fluids when the patient has spiked a temp(1960s+)

To reject; quash: The spiking of Schanberg's column at The Times drew hundreds of angry letters from readers/ confident the man's disbelieving New York editors will spike the story(1908+)

To injure a player, most often a defending baseman, with the spikes on one's shoes (1885+ Baseball)

To punch a volleyball powerfully and unreturnably down (1970s+ Volleyball)

To slam the ball down, usually done by a player who has just scored a touchdown (1970s+ Football)

To shoot: Figure whoever spiked Porter probably did us a favor(1990s+ Black)

[all senses fr spike, ''large nail,'' hence ''sharp point''; the sense ''to reject'' may be fr the earlier phrase spike a gun, ''render a cannon useless by driving a spike into the touchhole,'' or fr the notion of dealing with a paper, bill, manuscript, etc, by impaling it on a spindle or spindle file]

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.Cite This Source